The Elements of Style

One of the all-time 'how-to' classics. If you write anything, from notes to novels, this book will help you and improve the way you write. It's easy to follow and provides examples along with the rules to provide context. I use it every time I write, and I've been a journalist, poet, fiction writer and essayist for thirty years. Stephen King uses it too and recommendations don't come much higher than that. It emphasises clarity, though not at the expense of style, has an excellent guide to correct punctuation and should be on any writer's bookshelf.

I wield this book furiously at anyone who dares to disagree with my prolific use of the Oxford comma or punctuation-light lists. This was a required textbook on my BA Creative Writing and I still have it sat next to me on my desk at work nearly ten years later. Strunk and White is a handy quick reference guide for good grammar, style, and layout. Despite being a relatively old book the rules in it are timeless, and the writing style of the book itself is uncluttered and easy to follow. Every rule in the book is supported by examples to ease your understanding, making them much easier to apply to your own writing style.

This little book has the essence of good writing between its covers. Not exactly a quick read because it is essentiallly a little text book. I thought I had a reasonably good command of the English Language - yet this book has shown me a few rules I had previously not know or had forgotten. I would recommend it to all writers who wish to make their work more readable and in some areas help to cut down any ambiguities.

This "little book" was recommended to me by my lecturer and I have to say it's compact size is very handy for me to carry around. The book itself is amazing for those who struggle to write academically in the correct tense and provides examples on avoiding simple errors.

I bought this to brush up on some essential grammer after having it recommended by Stephen King in his book "On Writing". Naturally, it is a work of non-fiction (and about grammar no less!) So you won't find yourself on the edge of your seat or anything as you read it. But you will find it softly engaging and interesting and find yourself pulled into the mindset of those people who take grammar a good deal more seriously than most of us. Particularly helpful is the fact that each recommendation comes with examples, so that you can see in practice what he is actually talking about, and that each part is not overly long, so you don't feel the need to reach for the metaphorical gun to put yourself out of your misery! If you set aside the contents, introduction and appendix then this book is only 85 pages long, which I actually saw as a good thing. No doubt there are books on grammar that can quite happily be used as tables in their own right, but I wonder how many normal people actually read them? It's a bit like Stephen Hawking's "Brief History of Time" in that owning a copy of such tomes doesn't automatically mean you have read them! This one I have read. I honestly don't know if it improved my grammar much (oh ok I do...It didn't! I think you would need to make more than a casual study of this to really improve much). But the door is at least slightly ajar to seeing the light and perhaps, some day, also marveling at the difference between a conjunctive pronoun and a restrictive adverb (something which I have personally never heard of, but which I feel happy to allow some Grammar God to now lay claim too). Overall, a book that is well worth your time.

This is a priceless little book that I have had for years. I lent it to someone who lost it so I instantly replaced it as it is a reference book I cannot live without. If you are a writer of anything at all then this little gem should be on your shelf. I guarantee that whatever you are looking for regarding good English and grammar, you will find it here. Cannot recommend highly enough. Yes, it's American, but please get past that. It was first published in 1907 and has been updated several times since then. Grammar is grammar wherever you live!

Since studying at university and graduating, I have kept this book in arms reach on my work desk since! I’m not the best with grammar, and it’s so reassuring to be able to just quickly check something over if your unsure, particularly when writing papers or minutes in a professional capacity. It’s also really small and light, so could be kept in a handbag at all times! I think anyone studying in the English language should have a copy of this, from as young as possible, so they have the confidence to use grammar correctly, and to be able to define their writing style.

Does whatit says on the cover

Un libretto di poche decine di pagine pieno di ottimi consigli per scrivere bene, cioè con efficacia, stile e correttezza. Da tenere come testo di consultazione assieme agli altri bei libri sulla scrittura efficace: "On Writing" di S. King, "Writing Tools" di R.P.Clark, "Scrivere bene" di W. Zinsser. E' disponibile anche la traduzione italiana, ma l'originale rimane insuperabile.

Great reading. Very helpful!

The best book on the practical use of the English language. Essential for all university students and for anybody who wishes to speak and write English using correct grammar.

Attention high school students about to graduate, job applicants, aspiring attorneys and diplomats, or anyone who has written a love letter: the struggle for accurate expression can be a bittersweet challenge, but it must be taken up. All of society depends on it. Written expression is the oil in social machinery. Failure to make a coherent point can be devastating to purpose. To sum it up succinctly: language matters. The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, is the standard volume for linguistic clarification. Short, comprehensive, and indispensable, it is the definitive source for its subject. The greater your understanding and use of language, the greater your power to define terms and control events. Language mimics a living organism. Language has character and identity. Though its rules can be vague and full of contradictions, language should be effectively understood to be knowledgeably used. Somewhat magically, The Elements of Style directly answers most questions of usage. Improper usage is painful to see written, and lands with a dull thud when heard in the ear of the knowledgeable. For example, a common mistake in usage, is to say “Between he and I.” The word “between” is a preposition, and therefore takes a third person pronoun. Properly stated, the phrase is “Between him and me.” The proper use of that and which, and further and farther is swiftly explained, as well as the accurate use of punctuation when using parentheses. This small compendium is divided into five parts: Elementary Rules of Usage, Elementary Rules of Composition, A Few Matters of Form, Words and Expressions Commonly Misused, and An Approach to Style (with a list of reminders). The authors offer practical advice but acknowledge that writing well is a mysterious process. First rate writers are rarely satisfied with their work. Norman Mailer wrote, “Good writing is not an act to inspire confidence because it is good, but anguish because it is not better.” This may be because variables are infinite and good style eludes definition. Writers express genius and craft in varying degrees. Craft can be taught; genius is innate and cannot be taught. The authors offer modest avowal: “There is no infallible guide to good writing, no assurance that a person who thinks clearly will be able to write clearly…writers will often find themselves steering by stars that are disturbingly in motion.” For the majority of the ungifted, which is to say most of us, The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, is an indispensable volume, and should be, like a dictionary, within arm’s reach. —Tom Casey

Great little booky-wooky. Even if it is written by Americans! We won't hold that against them though, despite their insistence that "which" can only be used in a non-restrictive clause! Silly yanks, but we love them anyway!